Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 183, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 1998, 2:23 PM EDT for York County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 47 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 18, 1998, 2:23 PM EDT (18:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 18, 1998, 3:10 PM EDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County York County, PA
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:27 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
The nearest sounding before it
Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 73 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 148 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -86 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1092 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 3 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 16 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 181823 RRA SVRCTP PAC133-181910- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 223 PM EDT TUE AUG 18 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN YORK COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA * UNTIL 310 PM EDT * AT 219 PM EDT...STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL 13 MILES EAST OF GETTYSBURG OR 3 MILES WEST OF CODORUS STATE PARK...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... CODORUS STATE PARK AT 225 PM EDT SPRING GROVE AT 230 PM EDT LOGANVILLE AT 250 PM EDT NEW FREEDOM AT 300 PM EDT SHREWSBURY AT\ 300 PM EDT DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS! BOOKBINDER/LAMBERT/WINTHER
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 18, 10:05 AM EDT, 4 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 10:05 AM EDT, 4 hours 18 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1005 AM EDT TUE AUG 18 1998
...WRKZNS SENT TO PHL/PIT VIA ADMCTP WITH THE MAJOR CHANGES BEING
1) INCREASED POPS ACROSS THE CENT AND NORTH...AND
2) TIMING OF CLEARING AND MUCH LESS HUMID CONDITIONS ACROSS THE NW
2/3S
...DISCUSSION...
UPPER VORT MAX CURRENTLY NEAR KBUF AS DEPICTED BY WTR VAPOR LOOP
APPEARS TO BE A FEW HRS AHEAD (EAST) OF MODEL POSITIONS AT 12Z...MVG
EAST AROUND 30 KTS.
SFC COLD FRONT ON A LINE FROM KBUF TO KERI AND KCLE AT 13Z WILL
PROGRESS STEADILY SE ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL PA DURING THE EARLY
TO MID AFTERNOON REACHING THE LWR SUSQ VALLEY BETWEEN 21Z AND 23Z.
QPF NOT IMPRESSIVE AT ALL BEING GENERALLY .10 OR LESS ON ETA/NGM
WITH THE PRIMARY LARGE SCALE DYNAMIC LIFT SCOOTING OFF TO THE NORTH
ACROSS CENTRAL NEW YORK. SFC BASED CAPES AOA 1000 J/KG PROGGED BY
THE ETA CROSS THE CENT AND LWR SUSQ WILL ACT TO ENHANCE THE POTENCY
OF THE CONVECTION AS IT MOVES INTO THE CONVERGENCE ALONG THE LEE
TROUGH IN THAT AREAS. NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION TO SEE A BKN SQUALL
LINE WITH LOCAL .50 QPF ACROSS THE SE 1/3 OF THE STATE DURING THE
MID/LT AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...LIMITED SUNSHINE/WEAK LLVL THETA-E
CONVERGENCE WILL BE AN INHIBITING FACTOR FOR SIGNIF RAIN.
SPRAWLING 1030 MB SFC SOUTHWEST OF JAMES BAY WILL MOVE ESE BRINGING
AN ALMOST FALL-LIKE AIRMASS INTO THE REGION FOR LATER TNGT THROUGH
THURS...WITH PLEASANT/LOW HUMIDITY.
NOTCHED UP TEMPS A FEW DEG ACROSS THE CENTRAL COUNTIES...OTHERWSIE
PREV FCST MAXS LOOK FINE.
WENT FOR CATEGORICAL (OCCASIONAL) SHRA/TSRA ACROSS THE NCENT/NE MTNS
THIS AFTERNOON...BUT TAPERED POPS TO ONLY 20 ACROSS THE NW MTNS IN
LINE WITH CFROPA TIMING. RAISED POPS A TAD (TO LIKELY) ACROSS THE
CENTRAL THIRD OF THE CWA AND KEPT WORDING AS SCATTERED ACROSS THE
SOUTH.
.CTP...NONE.
LAMBERTThe office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 1:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lebanon | 62 min |
| Aug 18, 2:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Adams | 33 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.